Coin-controlled vending machine



June 24, 1930.. F, L, MILLS I 1,767,602

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Jive/zir- Jw/ 9 M June 24, 1930. MILLS 1,76%602 COIN CONTROLLED VENDINGMACHINE FiledApril 8, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 fldeizzbr- M QM June 24,1930.

F. L. MILLS COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1927 5Sheets-Sheet '3 Patented done 24, 1930 FRED L. MILLS, OF OAK PARK,ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO, MILLS NOVELTY COMPANY, OF

. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS COIN-CONTROLLED VENDINGMACHINE I Application filed April 8,

My invention relates to coin-controlled vending machines and moreparticularly to that type of such machines in which a plurality oflegend-displaying wheels are provided in conjunction with the vendingmechanism and adapted to be rotated by the actuation of the machine andto display, when they come to rest, a combination of legends havingcertain significance, as, for example, telling fortunes and indicating acertain number of premium coupons or checks to be delivered to thecustomer, the general type of machine referred to being well known andillustrated in a number of prior patents, as, for instance, Patent No.1,586,455,

granted to me on May 25, 1926..

The principal object of the present invention is the provision ofdevices, in a machine of this character, for enabling the operator tocontrol the final position of the legend displaying wheels, so that theresult may be made to depend upon his sln'll, rather than upon chance.

Other objects and advantages of the 1nvention will be apparent as it isbetter understood from the following description, which, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front-to-back sectional new of a coin-controlled vendingmachine in which my invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a sectional and elevational view, taken substantially upon theline 22 in Fig. 1 and certain parts being broken away for convenience inillustration;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan and sectional View, taken substantially on theline 3-3 inFig.

- Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are elevational views of certain parts .of themechanism, showing the operation of my improvements. 1

Upon said drawings, illustrating a preferred exemplification of myinvention, the reference character 11 indicates a rock shaft, mounted inbearings 12 and extending transversely of a casing, said shaft beingadapted to be actuated by means of coin-controlled mechanism, of anywell known or preferred 1927. Serial N0. 181,946.

type, such, for example, as that shown in my prior Patent No, 1,586,455above mentioned, said mechanism not being shown in detail in saiddrawings because it is well understood in the art and the particularconstruction thereof is not involved in the present invention. It willbe understood that an actuating member, such as a hand lever, isprovided on the outside of the casing and is normally locked, beingreleased for actuation by the insertion of a coin in a coin slot, themouth 14 of which is illustrated in Fig. 1. Rotation of saidrock shaft11 in counterclockwise direction serves to raise an arcuate member '15connected therewith, the forward and upper end of said member beingprovided with a pawl 16 adapted to engage simultaneously a plurality ofratchet wheels 17 mounted upon a transverse shaft 18 and being providedwith a plurality of ratchet teeth, or shoulders, '19. Said shaft 18consists of a plurality of nested tubular members upon each of which ismounted one of said ratchet members 17 and one of a series of legendbearing wheels or reels, indicated by the reference characters 21, 22and 23. Upon return of the rock shaft to normal position, whichpreferably is acomplished by spring means, to be hereinafter described,the pawl 16 is moved quickly downwardly, thereby starting rotation ofthe ratchet wheels '17 and therewith the wheels 21, 22 and 23. Saidwheels continue to rotate until their motion is arrested by deviceswhich will now be described. 7 4

A star wheel 24 is provided in conjunction with each of the wheels 21,22 and 23 and is adapted to be engaged by a head 25 upon an arm 26, oneof which is provided in association with each of said wheels. Said arm26, in the present instance, is composed of two pivotally connectedsections 27 and 28, the latter being pivoted to a cross rod 29 at thelower front of themachine. A lateral extension 31, upon the arm section27, extends rearwardly and is provided at its end with a lip 32,disposed above a cam member 33 projecting forwardly from the rock shaft11. Said extension 31 is normally held in down a fixed point onthe'frame. or any other suitable return spring arrangeposition by meansof a spring '34, connected thereto and at its lower end to a fixed point35.

The lower end of the arm section 28 is provided with a projecting part36, to which, in the present instance, there is secured a side piece 37,having a lug or foot portion 38 on the bottom thereof providing a stepfor a purpose which will presently appear,

A horizontally movable bar 39 is pivoted at 41 in the lower rear part ofthe casing and is adapted to be moved forwardly, through means whichwill be later described, by rotation of the rock shaft 11, which alsoserves to lift the extension 36 upon the arm section 28 by means of theaction of the cam 33 upon the member 31. This permits the bar 39 tobe'disposed beneath the parts 36, 37 upon the several arm sections 28,said bar 39 being actuated from the rock shaft 11, which is rigid with aframe part including a downwardly extending finger 42'adapted to engagea lug 43 upon a pivoted plate 44, from which a link 45 extends forwardlyand is secured to said bar 39 at 46. The bar 39 is thus moved forwardlyagainst the tension of a spring 47, secured at one end to a hook 48 uponsaid lever and at the other end to a fixed lug 49, the movement of saidbar being opposed to the action of a spring 51 secured at one end to alug 52 upon the plate 44 and extending transversely of the casing, beingsecured to a fixed part at or near the other side thereof. Said plate 44is pivoted at 53 upon a vertical shaft 54 and in' order that the returnof the bar 39 may be properly timed, a governor mechanism, including aseries of timing gears (not shown) may be provided in a housing '55, orotherwise associated with said shaft 54. The action of thespring 51 uponthe plate 44 is thus controlled to prevent too sudden return of saidplate and the bar 39, for a purpose which will presently appear.

The rock shaft 11 is adapted to be returned to normal position by meansof a spring 56, secured at one end at 57 to the cam 33, rigid with saidshaft 11, and at the other end to This spring,

ment, serves to actuate the pawl 16, which, as previously explained, iselevated by-the rocking of the shaft 11. The return movement of saidshaft thus causes said pawl to move downwardly with a quick motion,

starting the ratchet wheels 17 to rotating.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be noted that lugs 59 and 61 areprovided upon the bar 39, which is also provided with a down wardlyextending stop lug 62, having ade pending portion 62. It'will be notedthat. the parts 36, 37 upon the bottom of the arm sections 28, uponbeing elevated by the action of the rock shaft cam 33, upon theextension 31 of the arm section 27, with which said section 28 isconnected by means of a I stop lug '63 upon said arm section 28, aredisposed above the bar 39,"with which they are held in contact by thespring 34, which acts as the rock shaft returns to normal position.

The action of the rock shaft cam 33 just referred to obviouslydisengages the head 25 upon the arm 26 from the star wheel 24 and itremains so disengaged so long as said parts 36, 37 are held in elevatedposition by the bar 39, the arm sections 27 and 28 being held in rigidrelationship during this time, or by a lock bar 64, pivoted at 65 to thearm extension 31 at one end and at the other end secured at 66 to avertical link 67, which is arm section 28, to hold the latter normallyin rigid relation with the arm section 27. Said lock bar is held inengagement with said pin 74 by means of a spring 75, secured at one endto said bar and at the other end to a laterally projecting lug 76 uponthe arm 0 section 28.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be observed I that the lower end of thelink 67 is arranged just above a bracket 77, supported from the frame sothat it is impossible to disengage the lock bar 64 when the parts are inthe position shown in said Fig. 4, namely with the foot part, of lug, 38of the member 37 in engagement with the bar 39.

When, however, said bar 39 is moved suf- 10o ficiently toward normalposition to permit the foot or step members 38 upon the projection 36,37 at the left in Fig. 3 to drop off said bar, as'shown in Fig. 5,suflicient clearance is provided between the lower end of said link 67and the bracket 77 to permit said link to be depressed, by means of amanually operable button 78, having a shank 79 extending through thecasing 13 and acting upon the arm 69, to disengage said 1 lock bar 64from the pin 74, whereupon the spring 34 causes the arm section 27 whichis pivoted at 81, to the arm section 28, to

turn on its pivot, causing the head 25 to engage the star wheel 24associated with the reel 23 at the left of Fig. 2. As the bar 39continues further toward its normal position, the unit 36,37 associatedwith the looking arm 26, 27 28, for the center reel 22,

permits a similar action to that just describedfor stopping said centerreel, and the same thing happens with the mechanism associated with thereel at the right in Fig. 2, namely reel 21, when the right hand unit36, 37 drops off the lug or projection 61 at v the right of the bar 39.One of the buttons 78 is provided for each of the reels. As said bar 39moves further back towards normal position, the front ends of themembers 36 successively drop ofi said bar, whereupon 13o ator at anytime after the foot 88 of the mechanism associated with any particularbutton 78 has become disengaged from said bar 39. The operatormay,,therefo're, by the exercise of skill and speed {in action, himselfcontrol the final position of the reels 21,. 22, 23, and thus bringabout a desired combination of the legends 82 provided upon the reels...

All indicator 83, of the usual type, is provided at the front of themachine to indicate numerically the results of the operation, thisindicator being visible through a widdow (not shown) in the .casing 13and being operable in well known manner by mechanism generally indicatedat 84:, which is actuated by any suitable mechanism for the purpose,which is not shown since it is well known in the art. Such mechanism ispreferably actuated from the rock shaft 11 and I have shown in thedrawings a lever 85, which is adapted to be actuated by a in 86 upon themember 15 carried by said rock shaft 11, said lever being connected by alink 87 with the indicator mechanism just referred to.

A vending chute 91 is ordinarily provided at the front of the machine,as shown in Fig.

1, and the vending of articles therefrom is,

controlled by the coin-controlled mechanism in well known manner.

Suitable tension is provided upon the tubular nesting shafts 18 by meansof springs 88, the tension upon which is variable by means of adjustingscrews 89 mounted in a bracket 91 upon a frame part 92, which providesbearings 93 for said shaft 18.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and

it will be apparent that various changes may,

be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the. parts withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention,

or sacrificing all of its material advantages,

the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodimentthereof.

I claim: 1. In a coin-controlled machine, the combination of a rockshaft, a plurality of legend-displaying reels, means actuated by saidrock shaft for starting rotation of said .'reels,automatic means forstopping the rotation of said reels to present varying combinations oflegends, and means operable by the" operatoro'f the-machine during therotation of said reels to controlsaid last-mentioned means whereby thefinal position of reels, and the combination of legends presentedintheir position of rest, may be controlled by the skill of theoperator.

2. In a coin-controlled machine, the combination of a rock shaft, aplurality of legend-displaying reels, means actuated by said rock shaftfor starting rotation of said reels, automatic means for stopping therotation of said reels to present varying combinations oflegends, andmeans operable-by the operator of the machine after predeterminedrotation of said reels to control said last-mentioned means whereby thefinal position of reels, and the combination of legends presented intheir position of rest,

may be controlled by the skill of the operator. 1

3. In a coin-controlled machine, the com bination of a rock shaft, aplurality of legend-displaying reels, means actuated by said rock shaftfor starting rotation of said reels, automatic means for individuallystopping the rotation of said reels to present varying combinations oflegends, and means operable by the operator of the machine during therotation of said reels to control said last-mentioned means whereby thefinal position of reels, and the combination of legends presented intheir position of rest,- may be controlled by the skill of the operator.

4. In a coin-controlled machine, the combination of a rock shaft, aplurality of legend-displaying reels, means actuated by said rock shaftfor starting rotation of said reels, automatic means for stopping therotation of saidreelsto present varying combinations of legends,-andmeans operable by the operator of the machine during the rotation ofsaid reels to control said last-mentioned means whereby the finalposition of reels, and the combination of legends presented in theirposition of rest, may be controlled by the skill of the operator, saidstopping means comprising a stop member adapted to obstruct the motionof a said reel and composed of pivotally related sections normallyacting as a unit, means, acting upon one section of the member forpreventing the latter from so acting-as a unit for a predeterminedtime', and said controlling means comprising a device forbringing theother section of said member into action to stop the reel prior to the,releaese of the member for action as a unit.

5. In a coin-controlled machine, the com bination of a rock shaft, aplurality of binations of legends, and means operable by the operator ofthe machine during the operation of said reels to control said last-menrock shaft for starting rotation of said tioned means whereby the finalposition ofreels, and the combination of legends pre-- sented in theirposititon of rest, may be controlled by the skill of the Operator, saidstopping means comprising a stop member adapted to obstruct the motionof a said reel and rcomposed of pivotally related, sections normallyacting as a unit, means acting upon one section of the member forpreventing he latter from so acting as a unit for a predetermined time,(and said controlling means comprising a device, for bringing the othersection of said member into action to stop the reel prior to the releaseof the member for action' as a unit, said stopping and controlling meansbeing duplicated for each reel of the machine. 6. In a coin-controlledmachine, the combination of a rock shaft, a plurality oflegend-displaying reels, means actuated by said ree s, automatic meansfor stopping the rotation of said reels to present varying combinationsof legends, and means operable by the operator of the machine during therotation of said reels to control said last-mentioned means whereby thefinal position of reels, and the combination of legends presented intheir position of rest, may be controlled by the skill of the013811117013 said stopping means comprising a stop member adapted toobstruct the motion of said reel and composed ofpivotally relatedsections normally acting as a unit, means acting upon one section of themember for preventing the latter from so acting as a unit for apredetermined time, and said controlling means comprising a device forbringing the other section of said member into action to stop the reelprior to the release of the member for action as a unit, said stoppingand controlling means being duplicated for each reel of the machine andthe several stopping and controlling means being individually operable.

7. In a coin-controlled machine, the combination of a rock shaft, aplurality of legend-displaying reels, means actuated by said rock shaftfor starting rotation of said reels, automatic means for stopping theromemes manually operable control member upon the exterior of themachine for bringing the other section of said member'into action tostop the reel prior to the release of the memher for action as a unit.

8. In a coin-controlled machine,'the combination of a rock shaft, aplurality of legend-displaying reels, means actuated by said rock shaftfor starting rotation of said reels, automatic means for stopping therotation of said reels to present varying combinations of legends, andmeans operable by the operator of the machine during the rotation ofsaid reels to control said last-mentioned means whereby the finalpositionof reels, and the combination of legends presented in theirposition of rest, may be controlled by the skill of the operator, saidstopping means comprising a stop member adapted to obstruct the motionof a said.

reel and composed of pivotally related sections normally acting as aunit, means act ing upon one section of the member for preventing thelatter from so acting as a unit for a predetermined time, and saidcontrolling means comprising a device including a manually operablecontrol member for each reel upon the exteriorof the machine r forbringing the other section of said member into action to stop the reelprior to the release of the member for action as a unit.

9. ln a coin-controlled machine provided with 'a plurality oflegend-bearing movable members, the combination of means for set-' tingsaid members in motion, automatic stopping means operable in a normalcycle of operations of the machine and means controllable by theoperator for stopping the motion of said members prior to the time fornormal operation of said automatic (stopping means whereby he may seekto 'control their final arrangement in-manner to present the legends inselected order or combinations.

In witnesswhereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

k FRED L. MILLS.

tation of said reels to present varying com.-

binations of legends,and means operable by the operator of the machineduring the rotation of said reels to control said lastmentioned meanswhereby the final position of reels, and the combination of legendspresented in-their position of rest, may be controlled by the skill ofthe operator, said stopping means comprising a stopmember adapted toobstruct the motion of a said reel and composed of pivotally relatedsections normally acting as a unit, means acting upon one section of themember for preventing the latter from so acting as a unit for apredetermined time, and said controlling means comprising a deviceincluding a L r v

